I am a newbie and know nothing about Linux. I have 2 hard drives and my plan was to install Linux (SuSE 7.3) on drive D, leaving the C drive for Windows 98.

I installed Linux with the C drive disconnected because I was paranoid about deleting Win 98. This resulted in Linux being properly installed on the D drive but the LILO boot floppy won't work when I reattach the C drive. However, I can boot into Linux by using SuSE CD1. The only problem is that takes a long time to boot up as I have to go part way through the installation process before I get prompted to boot to the existing system.

I would like to create a LILO boot disk now that Linux is installed and both the C and D drives are where they are going to be. Using the regular function in YAST2 (I think) for creating a boot floppy has only succeeded in creating a floppy that will boot up to the point where I get instructed to insert the CD. The instructions in SuSE for creating a LILO boot disk are over my head. Does anyone have a simple way to instruct me how to create a LILO boot floppy or at least a suggestion of a resource to use so I can get up to speed and follow the SuSE instructions?

Thanks.

I had the same problem

your /boot
partition has to be on the disk that boots...

you can either:

- tell your bios to boot from
/dev/hdc (you call it D)
and put lilo on /dev/hdc 's MBR

- OR create a /boot partition on C... (using partition magic-style tools).. but that will be much pain

(remember that LILO boot record and /boot partition as to be on the same disk)

Thanks for your reply. What I would like to do though, is to create a boot floppy with LILO using the already-installed Linux. Is that possible?

then you could just (physically) swap the two disks...
but you'd have to check
/etc/lilo.conf
/etc/fstab
and replace all the /dev/hda
with /dev/hdc and vice-versa...

or you could give a try to GRUB, it is told to be much smarter than LILO...

Sorry, but I don't understand your reply, being a complete newbie. I've got both harddrives in place. Using the SuSE CD, I am able to boot up into Linux, even though I've added a hard drive that wasn't there when Linux was installed (I call it Drive C even though I guess Linux doesn't use that term).

Can't I boot into Linux using the CD, and then use Linux to create a LILO boot floppy that will recognize where everything is so that I can use it rather than the CD to boot up into Linux?

I get the feeling that I am missing something as to how a LILO boot floppy works.

hu ho...

I understand...you want to boot linux only from the floppy and not the HD... sot his /etc/lilo.conf would be enough :-)
getting to bed...I won't reply anymore today... I hope it will fit for you

1) log as root
2) insert blank diskette

3) type in /etc/lilo.conf
#-------------------------------------------
boot = /dev/fd0
# notice the fd0

read-only
message = /boot/message

image = /boot/vmlinuz
#put your kernal image .. it might be also /vmlinuz
label = linux
root = /dev/hdcx
# replace x with root dir
initrd = /boot/initrd
4) run ' lilo ' to apply changes
(it will write on the floppy normally)
5) type 'sync'
6) type 'reboot' and see

Thanks for your help.